GATE 2027 opens with a new Robotics paper and compulsory DigiLocker IDs
IIT Madras began applications on 27 August after a two-week delay. Indian candidates must use a verified DigiLocker account. A Robotics and Automation paper takes the set to 30. The exam runs across six days in February 2027.
Chennai3 min read
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IIT Madras opened the GATE 2027 application window on Thursday, 27 August, two weeks later than first advertised. Indian nationals cannot file without a verified DigiLocker account. The last date without a late fee is 27 September. The late window closes on 5 October.
The exam itself sits on six dates: 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 and 21 February 2027. Results are due on 19 March. City allotment is listed for 4 January. The correction window runs from 14 to 21 October.
A new paper, Robotics and Automation, code RA, takes the set to 30. IIT Madras has also rewritten syllabi across the existing list and changed sectional codes in the XE, XH and XL papers. Textile Engineering and Fibre Science has its own note on the official site. Candidates who plan a second paper have to pick from a published two-paper combination table; they file one form, not two.
Why DigiLocker is now the gate
The institute put the DigiLocker rule on the site on 1 August and told candidates to create or clean up a verified account before the form opened. The aim is to pull name, date of birth and identity documents from a government locker rather than from scans that exam cells then have to check by hand.
That sounds like a small IT change. It will fail for anyone whose Aadhaar name does not match an older marksheet, or whose DigiLocker account is still sitting in an unverified state. Helpdesk numbers on the GATE 2027 site already list a Chennai landline and helpdesk@gate2027.iitm.ac.in. The people who need those lines first are not the ones who already use DigiLocker for driving licences.
Registration was meant to start on 14 August. A notice on 13 August moved it to the 27th and pushed the close dates with it. The information brochure is on version 1.2, with exam cities and two-paper pairs updated on 10 August.
What the new paper actually contains
Robotics and Automation is split. Part A is common. Part B splits into Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering sections. That design tells you who the paper is for: students who already sit close to those two departments, not a free-standing robotics major that every campus now claims to run.
GATE scores already do more than IIT admissions. Public sector firms and many campus M.Tech desks use them as a shortlist. A dedicated RA paper gives those desks a number they can quote without borrowing from Mechanical or Electrical. It also forces coaching centres to write a new book in a market that already sells thirty old ones.
Score validity remains three years. That is unchanged. What has changed is the cost of a sloppy application. DigiLocker mismatches and two-paper pairs that are not on the list will be harder to fix after 21 October.
The calendar that now matters
27 August to 27 September is the clean window. 5 October is the paid extension. Mid-October is the last chance to correct fields the form allows. February is six sittings, not one weekend. Anyone booking travel around a single guessed date will guess wrong.
IIT Madras has run GATE before. The difference this cycle is the identity pipe and the extra paper. Both are live as of Thursday. The brochure and the city list will move again if they follow the pattern of earlier years. The DigiLocker requirement will not.
